The NGO warns Spain that it has until 31 July to begin investigating a case of torture

The Basque Observatory for Human Rights (OVJ) has warned the Spanish State that it has until 31 July  to implement the measures proposed by the UN Committee against Torture and to investigate the caseof Raúl Fuentes , accused of being tortured at the police station in Bilbao when he was arrested in 1991.

In a media appearance, NGO Coordinator Agus Hernan has advanced that if the state fails to take action, the organization has already decided, together with its legal advisers, what steps it will take in relation to this case.  

"Spain must investigate this case and that of Iratxe Sorzabal, both."  The National High Court acquitted Sorzabal after concluding that he had suffered" inhuman treatment "during his detention. In view of this, Hernán has stressed to them that " no longer serves to apply the argument of having been prescribed ", he has concluded.

The lawyer, Iratxe Urizar, has stressed that "the Spanish Government must take action in the face of violations in the context of the Basque conflict" and that the State "should investigate the crimes of torture, removing the limitation of prescription", and recognize Fuentes and Sorzabal as victims, "supporting them in the reparation and search for the truth".

He recalled that the UN Committee against Torture had reproached Spainin 2023 for "crimes of torture against humanity" and were therefore "imprescriptible".

A few weeks ago, the Spanish Government had to explain in Geneva the degree of compliance with its commitments to the Universal Covenant on Human Rights, and on 18July, after hearing the Spanish delegation, the United Nations Human Rights Committee presented a  report.

This report again expresses concern that in Spanish legislation "the definition of torture is not yet fully in line with international standards" and that the recording of interrogations is not systematically applied.

He has also accused the offence of torture of prescribing it to 15 years and regretted that in the ACV and Navarre "there are more than 5,000 testimonies of persons allegedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment between 1960 and 2014".

It calls on Spain "to take the necessary measures to ensure an effective investigation into the alleged torture and ill-treatment referred to by the numerous documented testimonies given to the authorities of the Autonomous Community and Navarre".

It also calls for the creation of an "independent mechanism" to investigate "all allegations of torture" against all State security forces and bodies.

The recommendations of this report "must be complied with", as stated by the European Court of Human Rights, so that the Spanish State "cannot continue to act as an ostrich as if it were not its own account, so the organization expects the State to" fulfil its obligations ", in the words of Hernan. 

According to the ECHR, "serious violations of rights committed under a state-planned counter-terrorism strategy have encountered a wall" in international bodies that have produced "judgments and reports that have cracked that wall of impunity."

"It has taken decades to overcome negationism and build a consensus that today recognizes the veracity of allegations of torture," Hernán said.